What If?
by Amezzeray
Summary: Twilight. Ari's original target before moving onto Kate was McGee. What if things went a bit more according to plan? McAbby, Kibbs, Kari.
1. Chapter 1

**THIS WAS ORIGINALLY GONNA BE A ONESHOT BUT THEN MY IMAGINATION TOOK MORE HOLD OF ME. ENJOY!!**

Gibb's gut was churning.

_Something's wrong_, he thought, he could feel it.

"McGee? McGee, do you copy? Tim?". He heard nothing but low, shallow breathing.

"DiNozzo, Kate, back to the car now!"

Tony sighed, "What's Probie done now?"

"Tony!" Kate said worryingly as she followed Gibbs. She liked Tim; he has grown so much as an agent since joining the team nearly a year ago. He has potential. He could run his own team someday…

They ran as quickly as they could down the numerous amount of stairs in the warehouse. Tony was behind since he wasn't fully fit after his spell with the plague and struggled to keep up.

They finally made it to the car. None of them were prepared for what they saw…

Tim was lay next the controller which had been destroyed by a bullet. Blood was oozing from his shoulder.

Gibbs knelt down next to him. "Tim? Talk to me Tim", Gibbs pleaded as he tended to his wound. "He's alive!", he told a shocked Tony and Kate.

Kate immediately opening her mobile phone to call for an ambulance and a replacement team to process the evidence. Kate knew that, despite Gibbs wanting to get the bastard who did this, he rather be with Tim in the hospital.

Tony knelt down next to Gibbs, using his jacket to stop the bleeding. "Come on Probie, if you go who else will, you wont anyone else to get my affection would you? Eh?"

Tim slowly flickered his eyes open, "I'd… be very… je… jealous Tony…" Tim managed to say above the pain. It was excruciating. He just felt like "falling asleep"; Letting all the pain drift away…

"Keep talking Tim. I don't intend to let you die. Actually, you will NOT die. You hear me?"

"I'll …try my… best boss" coughed Tim, "I have a… habit of… screwing things up"

"Ah, Tim, that's nothing, you're a damn fine agent. There was a reason I picked you. You have a fine career ahead of you. You can't give up. YOU WILL NOT GIVE UP!", Gibbs then held onto his hand, letting him know that he was there for him, like a father would be.

Closer examination of the wound found that the bullet struck his left collar bone. Gibbs knew immediately that even if Tim survived this, he would never be a field agent again; Tim is a left-handed shooter…

Tim, in the blur of the sunlight saw flashing blue lights, and let the pain take him…

"Tim, NO!"


	2. Undrunk Coffee

Ari was looking through his sniper scope. He wanted Gibbs to see his agent suffer, which is why he didn't kill him.

He moved onto the rooftop across from him, to find the pretty head of Caitlin Todd.

"Now, now Caitlin, where are you?"

But the rooftop was empty. They had gone down to attend to McGee.

But instead of waiting for Kate to appear, he packed up his rifle and left the rooftop, leaving his brass behind.

_I cannot get greedy_, he thought._ I'll pace myself. Let Leroy Jethro Gibbs truly suffer…_

* * *

Kate, Abby, Tony, Ducky and Gibbs were sat in the waiting room of Bethesda Naval Hospital as Tim was in surgery.

Abby was quietly sobbing on Kate's shoulder as she laid a comforting arm around her. Tony was staring into space, thinking of all the times he had taunted McGee, feeling slightly guilty but at the same time trying to justify it. _It was character building_, Tony thought. But then again, McGee probably saw it as bullying? He didn't know. Only that he felt guiltier the more he thought about it…

Gibbs was pacing the room. He hadn't touched he coffee. Then decided to break the silence.

"Kate, who's on the case?"

"Paula Cassidy. After she docked she personally volunteered to take on the case"

"That's good", Gibbs managed a little smile. He never held Cassidy the highest regard, but appreciates that someone he knows is on the case. And that instead of having leave as most agents afloat do after docking she went out of her way, possibly cancelled some long-awaited plans to do this.

"Ducky, erm, will you get an update on how things are going?"

"Of course Jethro", Ducky said quietly.

Kate then asked the question that was on all their minds, "Gibbs, McGee was on the opposite side of the car from any of the shooting in the warehouse. How could he have caught a bullet?"

"Well maybe he was stood up", suggested a croaky-voiced Abby. This was the first she spoke since she got there.

"Even McGoo isn't that stupid" said Tony, "anyway, the bullet as a through and through. And I saw the bullet hole in the car"

And then it hit everyone…

"He was shot by someone from somewhere else" realised Kate "but who would…?"

"Ari..." Gibbs whispered.

"Boss, why would Ari want to kill McGee? I mean, it's you he wants to kill…"

"The bastard's trying to make you suffer" realized Kate.

"No-one leaves the hospital unless I say" Ordered Gibbs.

Tony and Kate were about to argue back when Ducky walked back in, with a look of melancholy on his face.

"He's not..."

"No he isn't Jethro. But the poor boy is not looking good. He lost a lot of blood and he has a rare blood-type. They're having trouble finding it. He flat lined 3 times during surgery and, from the state of his shoulder he'll probably never be a field agent again"

Gibbs immediately felt a pang of guilt. Why can't Ari just get it over with? Why does he have to put his agents' lives on the line to get the personal satisfaction of killing him? Tim worked so hard to become a field agent. He pushed hard for that promotion. Is this how its gonna end?

"I need coffee" said Gibbs as he left the room.

"I've never seen Gibbs like this before Ducky, he really blames himself", Kate said.

"Jethro has lost men in combat before. It shouldn't be different but it is. He recruited Timothy after seeing potential in him and, in essence, is just a kid really. Jethro feels responsible. Its one of the less eager parts of the job description of being Special Agent in Charge. Just like marines say about loss, "hope you won't, know you will"".

Silence once again took the room as they all digested Ducky's words.

* * *

Gibbs was in the hospital cafeteria sat at one of the tables, once again not touching his freshly poured coffee. Then his mobile rang.

"Yeah, Gibbs", he answered.

"Gibbs, Cassidy. How's McGee?"

"Still in surgery. How's the investigation?"

"He was shot by a sniper rifle from the rooftop opposite. We found the nest; whoever did it didn't police his brass. Lapua .308 calibre. Other than that, we have no other leads"

"I have one for you, Ari Haswari"

"I had a feeling you might mention him. There's not physical evidence relating him to the case other than being a mole in the cell. But I'd trust your gut to any forensic evidence any day, so I'll look into it but, my hands are kinda tied"

"What do you mean "kinda tied" Cassidy".

"An agent from Mossad is here helping the new Director with anti-terrorist ops. She also just happens to be Ari's CO. Her name is Officer Ziva David. She's convinced he's innocent"

"You're a smart girl Cassidy, improvise. And, new Director?"

"Didn't you hear? Director Morrow was offered a deputy directors position at Homeland Security. The new Director's name is Jenny Shepard"

Gibbs was surprised at this, he hadn't seen her for 6 years.

"Thankyou, Cassidy" said Gibbs. He actually put feeling into this statement. And hung-up.

He made is way back to the waiting room and found the doctor in there, talking to the team.

"I'm afraid its not good news Agent Gibbs"


	3. Goodbye

"I'm afraid there was nothing we could do" announced Doctor Carter, "he lost too much blood and he flat lined a total of 7 times. I'm terribly sorry"

Tony just stared at the Doctor.

Kate bit her lip and continued holding onto Abby.

Abby was now in fully cried out loud mode. This broke Gibb's heart.

Ducky was just lost for words.

"Thankyou Doctor. Can I see him?" asked Gibbs from barely a whisper. He was in a state of shock. Timothy McGee died because of him…

"Of course, this way" the Doctor Carter began leading Gibbs away when Abby followed.

"No Abs" Gibbs pulled Abby into a deep hug, as if he was trying to protect her, "I need to see him by myself first, then you can go in after me and if any of you fancy going in then you can all have your time with him. Please Abs I need to do this"

Abby nodded in-between loud and uncontrollable sobbing as Gibbs proceeded with the Doctor.

* * *

BACK AT NCIS

"Something's not right! Damnit!" cursed Paula as she goes through the vast amounts of evidence and/or lack of evidence.

"What is it Boss?" asked Agent Balboa.

"Ari's satellite phone, it has inconsistencies in the phone memory. And there is also something about Ari's connection with NCIS that bothers me..."

"if you don't mind my asking Boss, do you have high enough clearance to access a supposedly untraceable phone?"

"Director Shephard gave me priority level at the top. Tell me Balboa, did you ever meet Tim McGee?"

"Well, kinda. We were introduced and we talked about the weather in the elevator, he always said hi when you walked past him. Nice guy."

"Exactly Balboa, he was one of the very few decent men I have ever met. Which is why we need to get our heads together and solve this because I am not leaving until I find Ai Haswari"

They got on with their work and many cups of coffees later, the phone rang.

"Agent Cassidy. Yes Director… yes… oh my God… thankyou for letting me know"

She hung up and turned to her senior field agent.

"Tim McGee died from severe blood loss 30 minutes ago and Mossad have lost contact with Haswari, they're getting weary. They want us to find him"

But Balboa wasn't listening. He was too busy typing and staring at the computer screen in front of him.

"Balboa, hey! Didn't you hear me? He's dead!"

"I know boss but I just caught a big break and I really think you should take a look at this"

The plasma popped up with the start of a video message.

"It turns out that the last thing McGee did was record 2 video messages shortly before leaving for the warehouse. One message is for the team, and the other is for Gibbs alone"

"Well what are you waiting for? Send it up, I'll go up and brief her"

* * *

Back at the hospital, Gibbs walked into a room with a lone table. On this table was the body of his agent, covered in a long blanket. The agent he recruited just less than a year ago to work for his team.

Gibbs uncovered his head and torso. He looked so peaceful, as if he were sleeping, except for the dried blood covering his shoulder and neck. And then he thought back to the last words that came out of his mouth: "I have a… habit of… screwing things up"

Gibb's pick up the lifeless left hand that belonged to Tim, held onto it just like he did at the crime scene and talked to him.

"Hey, Kid. Erm you obviously know how I feel about apologise; Lord knows how many times you apologised. You didn't even need to. You were nervous, and everyone makes the odd mistake, particularly ones which I got angry with you about and for that I am sorry. And if I or anyone on the team ever gave you the impression that all you were good at was "screwing things up" then I apologise for that too. You were a damn good agent Tim and it will take a while to find someone to fill your spot on the team."

Gibbs just sat there, clinging onto his hand, as if he were waiting for it to grip back and or it all get better again.

But nothing happened

Gibbs sat there a long time, maybe a half-hour or so jus talking, telling him how he was gonna be missed; making promises to talk to his family and that his death wouldnt be in vain.

"I promise you, I will get the bastard. He's done too much damage...

Gibbs let go of his hand.

"Goodbye Kid"

Gibbs choked up with those last words. He was too young to die, had so much going for him. _He once mentions a sister_, thought Gibbs. _What was her name? Sandra? Sabrina? Sarah? I can't even remember. I'll have to talk to her…_

Gibbs covered him back up and left the room and made his way back to the Waiting Room to find Kate setting up a laptop.

"Hey Boss, Director Shepard says that there is something we should all see"

Then a more than familiar face and voice popped up on the screen.

"hello, Jethro, long time no see"


	4. Don't Think Any Less of Me

**Now, I've been pretty kind so far by just posting without asking for reviews. But 3 chapters in and no reviews, a line must be drawn lol. NEXT CHAPTER WONT BE IN VIEW UNTIL 10 REVIEWS!!**

* * *

"Earlier this morning Agent McGee created a video file for the team, and a separate one for you Agent Gibbs", said Jenny.

Gibbs slightly smiled at this; he wasn't used to Jenny being so…formal.

"Have you viewed these files yet Madam Director?" asked Gibbs in an equally formal way, only he put particular emphasis on "Madam Director"

"No. He made them for the team, its only right you should all view them first"

"Very well, play the tape!"

The video began. Tony and Kate recognized it as McGee's apartment. The files must have been transferred to his computer at NCIS that morning.

"Er, hey guys. You are viewing this either because I am dead or dying and you have searched my system for some strange reason" McGee chuckled. Abby and Gibbs followed suit. It was the littlest thing yet seemed the right thing to do.

"I just made this video in case I ever got in that position so that I can bid a final farewell to everyone".

Abby lit up when her name was mentioned first.

"Abby, the love of my life. The biggest regret of my life, is blowing it with you. And for that I'm sorry. I love you Abby"

"I love you too Timmy", sobbed Abby. She cuddled into Gibb's shoulder and he held her close, just as he held Kelly whenever she was upset…

"Kate, you are like a sister to me and you helped me through cases I struggled with. Thankyou Kate"

Gibbs looked at Kate and noticed tears forming in her eyes. He gently let go of Abby and gave the same hug to Kate. But she immediately backed away.

"Tony, I'll always either be a Probie or a McSomething to you, and even though I hated all that stuff with my name and the endless endless taunting, I know you were only looking out for me and I never took any of it to heart."

Tony smiled and chuckled. But this failed to lift the guilt he felt.

"Ducky, the great-storyteller! I have found many of your stories fascinating; they were always the highlights of my day and I'm sorry I can't hear more of them and please only tell the good ones of me"

Everyone laughed at this last comment. But it died down quickly. Ducky smiled but the message still didn't change the feelings inside. It didn't really for any of them. They'll only reach absolution once Ari is dead.

"And Gibbs, you have your own video for that, please view it in private. Thankyou, everybody for the fantastic time I had at NCIS. I wouldn't have traded it for any other job. I was very happy at NCIS. Goodbye everybody, be good!"

The video ended. And silence retook the room. Abby was the first to break it.

"Gibbs, can I go see him now?"

"Sure Abs, take as much time as you want"

"Can you all come with me?"

"Of course Abby", Tony, Ducky and Kate replied in unison.

As Kate made her way out, she made eye contact with Gibbs. She was angry at him for the "public gesture" and he knew it. As far as she was concerned, what ever happened under the boat in Gibb's basement stayed there…

After they left the room, Jenny appeared on the screen again.

"I'm sorry Jethro. McGee was a good agent."

"Yes he was", he replied quietly

"How are you taking it?"

"I'll feel a lot better once we've captured that bastard Ari"

"Jethro there is not evidence linking him to the crime. Did Cassidy not tell you? They found the weapon. There is no forensic evidence on the weapon to suggest Ari's ever been near it!"

Gibbs checked his mobile phone. It was turned off, from when he went to see Tim, which explains the lack of info from Cassidy.

"Damn it Jen he's a pro! Would you have left fingerprints and DNA at a crime scene?"

She quickly changed the subject, "I'm playing your video"

"Fine!"

"Ok, Boss, I have a very good reason for the secrecy but I just can't trust anyone anymore. I lied in the other video about doing the messages in case anything happened to me. Because I know I'm going to die…"

Gibbs just stared at the screen and listened intently.

"Ari will probably kill me with a sniper rifle while in the field. I should have told you Boss but he threatened everything; my family, my job, Abby… you…"

"Get on with it McGee!"

"When I was in vacation in Madrid last year, I witnessed the train station bombings. And I saw Ari walking away from the wreckage. I had to follow him. This was a few weeks before I joined the team, which was stupid of me I know Boss" he gave himself a headslap, "anyway, he caught me following him, of course and threatened me, telling me that he would kill everyone and everything I cared about and you know what? I believed him. Anyway he kept tabs on me. He sent me a "good luck" card after getting my job with you. To cut an even longer story short, I found out this week that he has a mole inside NCIS. I won't bore you with all the details. But Abby will be able to find them hidden on my PC."

"I know how you feel about apologies, but this one is necessary. I am sorry Gibbs and I didn't want you to be more disappointed in me than you already were, since I'm a screw-up but for what it's worth, it has been an honour to be part of your team and I hope you don't think any less of me"

The video ended.


	5. Dead End

**Alright Peeps this will be my last chapter for about 2 weeks. This is because I have 3 assessments due in at Uni (one of which is a screenplay due in 6 days whih I have yet to begin lol)**

**Just so you know…**

* * *

Paula sat in Starbucks going over the evidence in her head. Her latte was going cold in front of her. She promised herself that she wouldn't leave until she found Ari. But it was taking a lot longer than she anticipated. Especially with Officer David breathing down her neck and Director Shepard still not convinced it was Ari who was the sniper. Eventually, she was ordered to take a break.

She heard the ring of her mobile and answered it straight away.

"Agent Cassidy"

"Agent Balboa here Ma'am. I found out the inconsistencies in Ari's satellite phone. He deleted a number of calls he made to an NCIS Agent. The Agent is…"

And as she listened to the name, a look of pure shock and horror appeared on her face. She had to tell Gibbs. He would be just has horrified…

But just as she dialled his number, she heard a gunshot and glass breaking, and all went black…

It had been close to an hour since viewing McGee's message, and Gibbs just couldn't get his head round it. A mole? At NCIS? But for who? Mossad? Al Quaeda? Hamas? Or just Ari himself?

What Gibbs couldn't understand is why couldn't the rest of the team know? Did McGee suspect them? It couldn't possibly by Abby or Ducky, they couldn't have it them. Kate? No, she's too loyal for her own good. Tony? He's a lot of things, but not a mole. But McGee was probably right in only telling Gibbs, it could be anybody.

Gibbs then got up and walked to the room where McGee and the team was and Abby was sat outside in Tony's arms and for the first time since Shannon and Kelly's death, he felt totally helpless…

"I've arranged for a car to take us all back to NCIS. No-one leaves the building unless I say so got it?"

"sure thing, Boss" said Tony loyally. "We'll get Ari, before he causes more damage"

"yeah, well…", Gibb's mobile cut him off. "Yeah Gibbs"

After listening to the voice down the phone, the team noticed Gibb's look. It wasn't good one. Abby didn't notice because she had her head buried in Tony's shoulder. He was getting bad news.

He closed his phone and turned to the rest of the team and took a deep breathe.

"Paula Cassidy and Matthew Balboa are dead. They were both shot in the head by a sniper. The director thinks they found a lead and were killed for being good agents. Paula was shot in Starbucks while getting coffee and Matthew was shot in the car park, a few minutes later. Preliminary examinations make it look like the same sniper…"

"Ari…" Tony muttered. He's intent on making everyone miserable, Tony thought. He always had a soft spot for Paula. They were supposed to hook up that weekend. After she docked…

"Wait a second Gibbs, how could Ari have known that they made a breakthrough in the case?" Kate asked.

"They could be monitored" Tony said "but that could only be possible if there was someone on the inside of NCIS who could have access to the phones and the computers"

Gibbs didn't even need to tell them. They all understood straight away that they need to be careful when they returned to NCIS.

"She in the middle of dialling a number when it happened. It was mine. She was gonna tell me who the mole was" he could feel it in his gut. "The FBI are being brought in to find him"

SILENCE

They just walked to the cafeteria and waited for the call telling them when the car arrives.

* * *

The 10 minute drive back to NCIS was a very long, agonizing one. Abby insisted on sitting with Tim in the back, saying that he mustn't be alone. Ducky stayed silent. In all the years Gibbs knew him Ducky has never gone long without a story, a personal one or historical one. To do an Autopsy on one of your own colleagues is bad enough let alone three…

When they got back they all immediately got to the Squadroom, with the exception of Ducky who went to Autopsy, they all sat at their desks and tuned their computers on.

"Abby, I need to know what Balboa was doing on his computer before he died. He found something"

"yeah, I'll do that" answered Abby timidly.

"Abby, I know that it's really hard but you'll need to focus. A small mistake could compromise everything"

she nodded and started typing, "well there's no point Gibbs, Balboa's system is wiped clean"

"that's impossible" Kate said, "the Navy records everything so if the system was wiped clean then-"

"we are talking about some uber-high-class DOD software and according to this it was wiped in the last few minutes"

"great!" yelled Tony "that's just great. A freakin' dead end!" and at that point felt a sharp pang on the back of his head "hey!"

"Tony, this isn't the time to get all agitated"

"Well if you cared about Tim you'd show some kind of emotion coz lets face it: He was a Probie. One of the best I have ever worked with I might add AND I don't know about you but I didn't realise just how much I took him for granted or even cared about him until the doctor said those words"

Gibbs had enough. He grabbed Tony by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the filing cabinet. This caused Tony to start uncontrollably coughing, as he still wasn't 100 after the plague. Gibbs let go and helped Tony up, but he immediately backed off.

"You're right Tony. Tim WAS taken for granted and barely did we ever show our appreciation but if you think that shouting about is gonna make it all better then you can leave and let Ari shoot you right now! This is our chance to atone for all that; by working hard to catch the bastard. Got it?"

"Got it Boss!", said a perturbed Tony and he sat down at his desk with his head buried in his hands.

Gibb's ringing of his desk phone broke the tension.

"Yeah, Gibbs"

"Jethro, come down to Autopsy alone. There is something you should see!"

He hung up and looked at the rest of the team. They all started chatting and/or sulking amongst themselves. So he took the opportunity and slipped off towards the elevator to talk to Ducky.


	6. Revelations

Hey guys, starting with this chapter I'll take a leaf out of Elle's book and name chapters after episodes of my fav TV shows and songs. Guess! Lol. I'll also take this opportunity to thank Elle for the great fics she has been writing and if none of you have read them then you really should lol

Ducky had just started the autopsy on Matthew Balboa when he looked up at the sound of the doors opening.

"That was quick Jethro"

"Well, it sounded urgent Duck. What have you got?"

"Something I found in poor Timothy's oesophagus. Ducky pointed at the x-ray."

"You didn't drag me all the way down here just to look at an x-ray did you Duck?"

"Jethro, its right here!" Ducky held up a jar with a rectangular object in it.

"That's one of those, erm, doo daa things"

"I believe they are called USB flash drives"

Gibbs raised his eyebrows, "you going all modern on me Duck?"

"Mr Palmer is always using them" chuckled Ducky. "I wasn't sure whether you wanted my to send this up to Abby or not. Not just because of the information that might be on it but she's in a fragile state already"

"I'll take it up", Gibbs sighed.

_Why would Tim swallow this?_ Gibbs thought as he held the jar. _Was information on the mole on this? Or was it partially finished?_

Gibbs got to Abby's lab and noticed there was no music playing. All was silent.

"Abby?"

"Gibbs" Abby said quietly.

He found her crouched next to Major Mass Spec and she was staring into space. He also noticed that there was a full Caf-Pow that looked like it hadn't been touched since Abby heard the news about the shooting. He sat down next to her.

"Abs, I need to know what Tim was hiding on this" he held the jar up, "I need you to be strong for him, Abby. Work with me now to find who is involved in this and you can grieve later" Gibbs said softly. He didn't want to sound harsh. But he needed her to be in the right state of mind.

Abby took the jar off Gibbs. She then immediately stood up and got to work. Gibbs let a small smile escape from his lips and joined her at the computer.

"It's encrypted Gibbs. It'll take me a while but I'll get the info off of it and don't tell me how long I have! This is my lab Gibbs, it works by my rules. And I'll do things in my time" Gibbs raised his eyebrows in shock. Abby raised hers in embarrassment. "But, I'll, erm have this done as quickly as my fingers let me type.", Abby then just went off on a tangent, "I mean, you know how much signing I do Gibbs I must have more active fingers than most people which means I must type faster than most peo-"

"Abs, breathe!" Gibbs chuckled as he noticed Abby was slowly starting to return to her normal self. He then pulled her in for a hug.

"Get him Gibbs. Please get him"

It took 2 hours, but Abby finally managed to break all the encryptions.

And she couldn't believe what she was reading on the computer screen.

She decided to send the info to Tony in an e-mail. If she told Gibbs on the phone, it could alert the mole that she was onto them.

But just before she clicked on send, Gibbs appeared holding a Caf-Pow and he handed it to her.

"Abby, you looked like you've seen a ghost" he then noticed that she was completely white, "Whats wrong?"

"I know who the mole is. And as far as I'm concerned, this person was just as responsible for Tim's death than Ari"

"Who?"

"Look" she said as she pointed at the computer.

And nothing could prepare Gibbs for the intense feelings he felt. He just wanted to shoot this person in the gut and torture that person until they were begging for death.

Tony was sat in the Squad Room alone. He was looking at some pictures he saved on his computer of him and Paula over the year they knew each other. Pictures in Cuba, in a bar in Georgetown, at his apartment. Tony let a lone tear fall down his cheek before being snapped back to reality by Gibbs.

"DiNozzo, where's Kate?"

"She went downstairs to pick up the Chinese from the delivery guy in the lobby"

Gibbs opened his draw and strapped his gun to his belt. Tony followed suit.

"did you find out who the mole is?"

Gibbs sighed deeply, walked up to Tony and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Tony… Kate IS the mole"


	7. Fragments

**Last chapter was named after an episode of Battlestar Galactica**

**See if you can guess this one…**

**--------------------------  
**

"No, it can't be Boss, it just can't be"

Tony was in a state of shock. He was attempting to digest it as Gibbs ordered a lockdown of the Navy Yard.

"she was with us the whole time, how could she have wiped comput-"

"Tim found out that her PDA linked to her computer. There was stuff on it that even he couldn't understand. Stuff that allowed her to monitor others even from the hospital"

"and how do you know this Boss?"

"Tim swallowed a USB thingy just before he died. I had Abby look at the content on it"

"I see".

Just as Tony was about to question why he didn't know about the USB Gibb's phone rang.

"What!" answered Gibbs. Then he heard Jenny's voice.

"I'm sorry Jethro, Agent Todd left the Yard 5 minutes ago"

"she must have sensed on some level that she would be found out soon. Too many people are dead"

"I know Jethro. I also got a call from Fornell. They have located Ari"

"I wanna interrogate him"

"No Jethro. He is at a safehouse for protection from YOU!"

"But Fornell told me it was me he wanted to kill"

"I know how loyal you are Jethro. You won't stop until Ari is dead. And the FBI needs their asset. And Mossad also want to know why he went off the grid. Everyone wants him!"

"And as usual NCIS get pushed down to the bottom of the list."

"Well you focus on Kate Todd and we'll focus on Ari!"

Gibbs shut his phone out of pure frustration. Tony had never seen him like this before. The way he acted after McGee died was one thing. He wanted vengeance and absolution. But this is completely different. Gibbs had the look of pure hatred mixed with some conflict. He wanted to kill Kate with his bare hands. Yet he also wants to hold her and ask her where he went wrong… just like they did now and again in his basement… under the boat…

"Tony, lets get to work"

**--------------------------**

An hour later, Gibbs returned with 3 coffees and a Caf-Pow. He handed one to Tony, who had just sent out a BOLO, an APB and had been on the phone to all of Kate's favourite take-outs, coffee shops and even her favourite florist telling them all to call him if she turned up. Tony has never been this thorough.

"thankyou Boss" acknowledged Tony.

Gibbs didn't stop though. He just kept going towards the elevator.

Ducky was just closing up for the night when he heard the doors open, acknowledging Gibb's presence. Gibbs then gave him a cup of coffee.

"Ah Jethro! Coffee? I thought you would want something a bit stronger"

"you know what Duck? I wouldn't mind"

Ducky unlocked the drawer of his desk and got out a bottle of scotch and carefully poured out 2 glasses.

"To Timothy, Paula and Matthew!" toasted Ducky

Gibbs followed suit and took a sip.

"it all makes sense now doesn't it?" Ducky asked.

"What does?"

"She hesitated to kill him in this very room when they first met"

"Stockholm Syndrome. She told me it was his eyes…"

"I know how you felt about her Jethro"

"Excuse me Duck?"

"I've know you for a long time Jethro. I have know all three of our wives and you gave each one that look whenever you were with them"

Gibbs gave up the defensive act. He could be himself in front of Ducky

"I haven't felt this for anyone since-"

"Stephanie, yes I know-"

"No Duck. I never told you about my first wife Shannon…"

And for once, it was Gibbs telling the story and not Ducky; and he listened intently. He told Ducky about how they first met in a train station in Stillwater; how she had a rule for everything; and then there was that day… that horrible day when e was told by his CO that they were gone. They were no longer waiting for him at home. They were waiting up above…

**--------------------------**

As he entered the Squad Room, Gibbs felt emotionally and physically drained after the events of the last 2 days. Emotionally because of Tim, Paula, Matthew, Kate and remembering Kelly and Shannon properly for the first time in years. And physically because he hadn't slept in two days. He then noticed a young woman stood in the Squad Room, waiting to talk to him.

"If this is a bad time, I can-" Tony cut her off.

"Of course it's a bad time! One colleague is dead – murdered by a psychotic Mossad-Hamas-Al Qaeda mole. I'm not even sure if he is a mole! He probably ran that cell here in DC and my other colleague HELPED THE BASTARD!!"

The young woman looked unfazed by this. She was shocked at the outburst but Gibbs could tell she was used to attitudes like this. Men like this…

"My name is Officer Ziva David and I believe I can help you find Agent Todd"


	8. Exit Wounds

I was watching Season 4 Ep 1 Shalom recently and that is the safe house I am referring to in this chapter.

----------------------------------------

"I thought you were on Ari's side"

"I am. It's just that I need some answers and this Agent Todd has something to hide…"

Gibbs gave Ziva the stare. She was one of the very few people who just gave it back to him. He was extremely impressed by this.

"Well, I'm listening"

"I organized a safe house for Ari. She could be hiding there"

"I'm still not convinced that Ari and Kate are working together"

"Neither am I. if she is, then Mossad does not know about it"

After another long silence. Gibbs spoke again.

"Well? What's the address?"

"I will take you there. I want answers Agent Gibbs and you can protest all you like but I am coming with you", Ziva said and them she walked off towards the elevator.

Tony sat in awe and stood up, "Hey! How do we not know that you're just working on getting secrets from us?"

Ziva stopped in her tracks. Thought about what to say and turned around.

"You don't. But then again I could think the same of you. But I look at you two and see the same dedication I saw from Ari on his missions. I then think, "how can someone with that much dedication be against us?". This means that I trust you. And while trust should go two-way, I believe that we should work it out together"

Gibbs looked at her for what seemed like forever. He then slowly walked to his desk, and got his gun out of his draw and walked up to her.

"well… lead the way Officer David"

Tony looked at Gibbs in shock as he and Ziva walked to the elevator.

"Hey, DiNozzo! You gonna gawp there all day? Come on!"

Tony then came back to his senses and followed Gibbs and Ziva to the elevator.

----------------------------------------

Kate sat in front of the TV staring at the screen. The news was on. She had just finished watching the report on a "federal agent's death" when she switched it off.

She then lay on the sofa, looking at her gun on the coffee table and closed her eyes…

FLASHBACK, 18 MONTHS AGO

_Kate unlocked the door and walked into her apartment. After putting the chain on she collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling. What a long day…_

_Her sense then told her she wasn't alone. She stealthily jumped off the bed and opened her cabinet, where her personal gun was hidden. She held it up and walked out of the bedroom. And, as she suspected, there was a man stood at the window._

"_Hello Caitlin", said the man._

"_Give me a reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now"_

"_Well, you tried in autopsy and failed"_

"_Only because you're stronger than me"_

_The man laughed, "That was only the case because your strength stiffened all of a sudden"_

_The man then held up what looked like a magazine. "I know where you keep your gun"_

_She checked the gun and found he was right. Now she came to think of it, it was a little lighter than usual._

"_What do you want?"_

"_the only think I want… is you…"_

Kate opened her eyes from the memory. At first, she said no to his advances. He was a real gentleman about it and kept away. But the longer he was gone, the more she thought about him. She didn't see him again until a year ago, when NCIS finally ID'd him as Ari Haswari. It was then that that they decided to get married…

She then heard a knock at the door. Kate grabbed her gun. Ari had told her that the only person who knew about this place was his sister…

"NCIS Federal Agents", she heard Gibbs say and she grabbed her gun and quickly ran to the window, knowing that Gibbs would have the back of the house covered as well as the front. She climbed through it and ran as fast as she could, towards the trees.

"There she is" she heard a female voice say, which was quickly followed by the sound of a gunshot.

Kate was just outside the trees when she fell down. She looked down and found blood…

----------------------------------------

"there she is" Gibbs heard Ziva say. He ran to the side of the house and saw Ziva shoot her gun.

Gibbs, enraged, pushed Ziva to the ground and got on top of her.

"What the hell are you doing?" shouted Gibbs, centimetres from her face. "We want her alive!"

"Which is why I aimed for her leg"

The next thirty seconds remained silent, each breathing heavily from the fall and staring angrily into each other's eyes, when Tony finally appeared holding his gun up.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Only Ziva trying to kill Kate"

"Let her go right ahead then"

At that last comment, Gibbs stood up and his hand sharply met the back of Tony's head.

"Don't you dare say that DiNozzo! Kate-" but Tony cut him off.

"Look Boss, I know that Kate was a valued member of the team. But she went completely Nina Myers on us and was involved in Tim's death. And If I was her you would most likely kill me slowly and painfully. What makes Kate any different?"

Gibbs didn't answer. Tony was right. What makes Kate different? He will never know how he felt about Kate…

He looked back towards the trees and saw no-one there. He didn't notice whether Kate took the shot. But whether she took it r not, she was gone.

"I'm going home. You want a ride?"

And Tony bluntly replied, "Sure"

----------------------------------------


End file.
